SUPER BOWL: Cassel feared he'd never get a shot at NFL

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Matt Cassel heard the play come through the radio in his headset and called it out the same way any quarterback would in the huddle.

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By DAVID BROWN

southcoasttoday.com

By DAVID BROWN

Posted Jan. 31, 2008 at 12:01 AM

By DAVID BROWN

Posted Jan. 31, 2008 at 12:01 AM

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SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Matt Cassel heard the play come through the radio in his headset and called it out the same way any quarterback would in the huddle.

But Cassel wasn't in the huddle. He was on the visitor's sideline at Alltel Stadium in Jacksonville during the 2006 season and he was calling the play for himself, instead of 10 offensive teammates.

Cassel was preparing himself in case something happened to Patriots starting quarterback Tom Brady. And then something happened to Brady.

With New England clinging to a 17-14 lead midway through the fourth quarter, Brady scrambled for seven yards and a first down when his left shoulder met the helmet of rookie linebacker Chad Ingram. It was a vicious hit, and Brady didn't get up quickly.

Cassel, a player who's spent the last seven seasons backing up high-profile quarterbacks, buckled his chin strap and readied himself to lead the Patriots on a crucial fourth-quarter drive.

"I walked on the field," Cassel said. "I'm looking at (Brady) on the field and said, 'Don't worry, buddy, I got it.' And he looks at me and he goes, 'Don't worry about it, I'll be back in a play.' I'm like, God, he can't give me like a series or something?"

Cassel never seems to find his moment. The one play on which he stood in for Brady didn't even count, because the Jaguars had 12 men on the field. The officials advanced the ball five yards and Brady returned to active duty.

Once again, Cassel had to resume the low-profile life of a career backup.

During a four-year stint at USC, Cassel backed up Heisman Trophy-winning quarterbacks Carson Palmer and Matt Leinart, but never made a start in relief. Then, he came to the Patriots in 2005 and Brady's durable frame has held up the entire time.

Even though it looked like an ankle injury might hobble him in the Super Bowl, Brady's name was nowhere to be found on the injury report on Wednesday, so once again, Cassel finds himself waiting for a chance that never seems to come.

It's not that Cassel wants to see Brady get hurt, nor does he think he deserves Brady's job. It's that he practices throwing footballs all the time and only rarely does he get to throw them in a meaningful situation. It's that the NFL saw a record 60 quarterbacks start games this season, and Cassel wasn't one of them.

"Almost every week you could turn on a game where a backup is playing," Cassel said. "On one team there was four guys that got to play, you know?"

Brady would prefer it if Cassel never had to replace him, but the starter said his backup will be ready if he gets a chance to take over his own offense.

"Matt's extremely talented and he's extremely hard-working and I think there's a reason why he's in the position he's in," Brady said. "Playing in the NFL, there's not many guys who get to play in the NFL. He's been in the league for three years, got a great future and I'm excited to see him when he does get the opportunity."

Cassel very nearly missed out on the NFL.

Palmer was the no-doubt-about-it starter when Cassel came to USC in 2001, but the Chatsworth, Calif., native figured he'd put in three years as the backup and get a chance to start as senior.

Unfortunately for him, Leinart, another future Heisman winner and first-round draft pick put up a spirited fight for the job during spring football in 2004.

Unfortunately for Cassel, Leinart didn't win the job outright at that point. If he had, Cassel may have leaned in favor of a transfer, but with a chance to win the starting position, he said he wasn't going to walk away from the competition.

When Leinart won the job during summer football, Cassel said it was tough news to deal with.

"It was definitely a mental challenge on me, and an emotional roller coaster over the course of my career," Cassel said. "Because you put your hopes and aspirations in being the starter and then when it doesn't work out, it's a huge letdown. But you've got to fight through that and fight through the adversity, and just kept going."

The worst part, Cassel said, was that he saw his NFL dreams evaporating.

"I thought about that a lot," he said. "And that was the toughest thing for me to deal with. I didn't have an opportunity at times to show off my abilities and how good I could possibly be, and my major concern was that I thought that would have a huge impact on whether or not I would be able to play at the next level.

"And the saddest thing for me would have been I didn't get an opportunity at the next level just because I didn't get an opportunity to play at least one game."

Scouts had so little interest in Cassel that they didn't even both to put him through the IQ exam that every quarterback prospect has to take.

"It was amazing because I hadn't gotten one phone call (from a scout)," he said. "They didn't even give me that Wonderlic test. They were like, 'You don't need to take this.' I was like, 'What the heck, you know?' I'm sitting there and I'm like, 'All right"¦'"

If you think that backup quarterbacks don't have to confront pressure, consider that Cassel threw just 33 passes at USC. He wasn't invited to a pro scouting combine. The only chance he had to gain the attention of NFL teams was the time scouts came to USC for a "pro day" workout in 2005, mostly to look at high-profile guys like Seahawks linebacker Lofa Tatupu.

"I had to put all of my eggs in one basket," Cassel said. "I had one workout, one day to make something happen for myself."

With his future riding on one day in front of the scouts, Cassel wowed them with the strong, accurate arm that got him to USC in the first place. In an instant, scouts that had ignored him were introducing themselves.

"All of a sudden, I have 10 pro scouts surrounding me and giving me cards and making phone calls and asking me to send out practice film," Cassel said. "It was such an interesting transition, because up to that point, I thought it might the longest long shot you've seen and then I had a lot of hope."